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"Fancy lock picking... How do you know? What if they had a key all along? What if..." he paused, gasping dramatically. "What if this is all a farce, and the owner is in on it for insurance purposes?!"

Izzy grabbed Toby's hand, pulling him off to the side and out of the direct line of sight of the old lady... Clearly, she was very suspicious.

".. Weird it's only bears though." Why bears? he thought people actually really liked them. Continuing to pull Toby along, he inspected them closer, trying to spot some sort of difference between them. "Hmm... Any thoughts?"

The bears were cute... Like, really cute, and he had half the mind to go buy them himself later. Maybe the matching pair of bears that looked like a pirate and, strangely enough, a mermaid. He'd hold back on messing with them for now, given they were all part of a rather intricate scheme that it was clear Toby put alot of thought into.

And then there it went, right down the drain, specifically into the arms of a tiny girl with such a big grin on her face that even Izzy felt a little bit of joy from it.

"Maybe they had a key... But it looks like we'll never know, since it seems business is booming today. Ah well. No one got hurt, so that means it shall remain a mystery! It's all good, I think, that means we can sneak off and do more fun things, right?"

"Yeah, probably not, but hey, you tried. A for effort!" It was way too easy to just let this thing pass. Life was unpedictable and sometimes hectic, so it was always for the best to not let things weigh you down too much.

Atleast, Izzy thought so... Maybe Toby was more complicated than he was, and felt that disappointment much more than what came across Izzy's mind.

And now, he was worried.

"Hey now, you aren't really disappointed, are you?" While he was originally going to head towards the door, the moment he began to worry for Toby he paused. And that lead to him taking the boy's hand and tugging him right out of sight from the other customers and workers.

"It's okay, you know... I really appreciate you going out of your way to do this for me." His voice was soft, and he genuinely looked concerned for once, rather than putting on some show for anyone. "I'm happy you're thinking about me. Cuz, you know, it feels good when someone you like a whole lot thinks about you. So don't worry so much, okay? You can think of something else, right? And if not, I don't mind just hanging out and being with you. I like you after all."

“Dude, you’re amazing for thinking about this at all!” Nope, Izzy wouldn’t have it! Someone as great as Toby should never look as down as he did!

Kisses made people feel better, right? It made his siblings feel better when they bumped their heads or got a bad grade, and mom’s kisses felt nice on his cheek when he got in trouble and she didn’t blame him.

So that’s what he did. His hands squeezed both of Toby’s cheeks, and he held him still as he leaned in and pressed a kiss right to his friend’s forehead. And then his nose. And then his cheeks and his forehead one more time.

“Cheer up, okay? No being sad on my birthday, only smiles and fun, okay? If I’m not sad, no being sad either. Like I said, all I really need is you with me, and maybe a little cake.”

“Yeah, I know I’m great! I’ve been saying that since the very beginning!” Good! He was smiling again, and Izzy rewarded that smile with a right proper hand squeeze after Toby took his wrist.

“Wait... You lied to me... I would feel utter betrayal but eh. Effort. Lead on, Toby! I’ll follow you anywhere!”